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Charl du Plessis and Cathy Dlodlo from City Press have reported on a Constitutional Court ruling that declares the Free State’s ANC provincial elective conference unlawful. This means that the appointment of the provincial chairperson and the Free State provincial executive committee (PEC) is no longer valid, and likely to impact on the ANC electoral conference in Mangaung next week.

The Court only announced their ruling and not the reasons behind it, which will apparently be explained next Tuesday, so the full implications of their decision are not yet clear. Dlodlo and Du Plessis report that “at the very least, the Free State PEC’s 20 votes at Mangaung will fall away” and that it is possible that all the province’s 324 delegates will be disqualified.

The Constitutional Court has scrapped the entire Free State provincial elective conference and all decisions taken by it.

This means the appointment of provincial chairperson Ace Magashule, as well as his provincial executive committee, is invalid.